Red Sox suing Mientkiewicz over ball.

[pokerdirty]

from ESPN.com

[ QUOTE ]
BOSTON -- The Red Sox have filed a lawsuit seeking a court order to keep the ball that Doug Mientkiewicz caught for the final out to clinch Boston's 2004 World Series title, The Boston Globe reported Thursday.

Ownership of the ball has been in dispute during the 13 months since pitcher Keith Foulke flipped it to Mientkiewicz, giving Boston a four-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals and its first World Series championship in 86 years.

Mientkiewicz, who clutched the ball in his glove and joined teammates in celebration, later put the ball in a safe deposit box and claimed ownership when the Red Sox asked for it.

In January, days after he was traded to the New York Mets, he agreed to lend the ball to the Red Sox for one year. He would get it back "unless the ultimate issue of ownership has been otherwise resolved," the agreement said.

That clause, The Boston Globe reported, led team lawyers to Suffolk Superior Court on Wednesday. The suit asks the court to place the ball in a "secure location" until ownership is decided.

The team's lawyers argue that Mientkiewicz gained possession of the ball only because he was a Red Sox employee, and that the ball is team property.

"From our perspective, it is very important that an artifact with this much history, it was 86 years in the making, be part of the club archive and be available for fans to experience," Lucinda Treat, the team's chief legal officer, told the newspaper.

The Red Sox made quite a splash once they got the ball on Feb. 3, when it was driven to Fenway Park in a Brinks truck. The ball joined the World Series trophy on a tour of Massachusetts cities and towns.

Neither Mientkiewicz nor the players' association were reached for comment, the Globe reported.

When he agreed to lend the ball to the team, Mientkiewicz said: "I want the fans to see it, and that's what both the Red Sox and I agreed on."

At that time, he said it was "very cordial, and we worked something out." He also said he "probably" would get the ball back after a year.

Their agreement said proceeds directly derived from exhibiting the ball would be donated to the Red Sox Foundation, the team's charity organization.

[/ QUOTE ]

nothing I like to see more than the silly Red Sox organization have a petty fight over a ball. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

I can't imagine the Red Sox winning this battle. If Ortiz hits one foul or into the monster seats, the fan keeps the ball. I don't see how this situation is any different. They must have used 18 million balls that series, and they've got to have the one that was a weak ground out.

[kenberman]

[ QUOTE ]
If Ortiz hits one foul or into the monster seats, the fan keeps the ball. I don't see how this situation is any different.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
The team's lawyers argue that Mientkiewicz gained possession of the ball only because he was a Red Sox employee, and that the ball is team property.

[/ QUOTE ]

meh, I guess that's how it's different. does seem silly.

Good. The guy's a thief. Not just for taking the ball, but for stealing a whole bunch of money from the Mets this season.

[kenberman]

ok, I just found out my friend (a lawyer) is working this case. here is what he told me, none if which is confidential information (I hope [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img])

just to clarify what is happening, the red sox have possession of the ball right now--on loaner from Mientkiewicz. The Sox have filed what is called a declaratory judgment complaint--they want the Court to declare their rights, Doug's rights, etc. Basically, they are suing him to figure out who, legally, this thing belongs to. The judge in the case will hear from both sides and assuming this is an appropriate request for the resolution of a legitimate legal question--which I think it is--a decision will be made about who has the right to the ball. I don't know that there is precedent one way or another for this. Fans can keep the balls because they have a contractual right to the balls that go foul--their tickets. MLB gives fans the right to keep the balls they catch when they pay tickets to come to a game. But players? I think it's a completely different issues. The players are unionized employees of a company/team/league that don't have the rights of a fan.

For those that say the Sox are being petty and that this has never been an issue before, that's kind of a weak argument. It's never been an issue before because--well, it's never been an issue before. No team has ever requested a ball and not been given the ball. The HOF has 2 game ending balls and that's it. It's never really been a problem...until now.

[pokerdirty]

i'll i'm saying is that if they wanted the ball that bad, they should have brought in buckner in the 9th as a defensive replacement...